lack of ambition
No drive forward
Lack of ambition describes an absence of drive to achieve, advance, or accomplish goals.
The phrase often carries negative judgment—implying laziness or complacency—but can also be neutral or even positive, suggesting contentment with one's circumstances: His lack of ambition frustrated his parents, but he was happy tending bar.
What looks like lack of ambition to one person may be intentional simplicity to another.
- lazinessUnwillingness to exert oneself
- apathyAbsence of feeling
- complacencyUncritical satisfaction with oneself
- unmotivatedLacking incentive or drive
- going nowhereLacking progress or direction
drifting · stagnation · treading water · inertia · slacker · couch potato · coasting · phoning it in · indifference · passivity · aimless · contentment · playing it safe · underachiever · settling · settling for less · mediocrity · path of least resistance
- work flawsincompetence, underperformance, inefficiency, poor judgment, inadequacy
- turn-offsick, red flag, red flags, dealbreaker, dealbreakers
- career killersburnout, firing, layoff, job loss, demotion
- lazinesslaziness, sloth, idleness, apathy, lethargy
lack of ambitionambition
Desire for achievement
drive · ambitiousness · motivation · determination · burning desire
lack of ambitionbig dreams
vision · overreaching · social climbing · upward mobility · careerism
lack of ambitionindustriousness
Habitual hard work
hustle · enterprise · initiative · self-motivation · grit
lack, lacks, lacked, lacking, ambition, ambitions, ambitious, ambitiously, unambitious